‘Carlos the Jackal’ set for trial for role in terrorist attacks in France

Paris, Feb 18(ANI): French prosecutors have said that ‘Carlos the Jackal’, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, is set to face trial in Paris for his alleged role in four deadly terror bombings in the early 1980s in France.

According to the Scotsman, Carlos is accused of a role in attacks that killed 11 people and injured at least 100. Three others will also stand trial, starting in November.

Arrested in Sudan in 1994 and flown to France, the 61-year-old is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of two French secret agents and an alleged informant.

Carlos was called ‘The Jackal’ by the Guardian, when Frederick Forsyth’s novel ‘The Day of the Jackal’ was reportedly found among his belongings.

For many years he was among the most wanted international fugitives.

In 1970, he had volunteered for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which was best known for pioneering notorious airline hijackings by terrorists.

After several bungled bombings, he achieved notoriety for a 1975 raid on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) headquarters in Vienna, which killed three people. This was followed by a string of attacks against Western targets.

In June 2003, Carlos published a collection of writings from his jail cell.

The book, ‘Revolutionary Islam’, advocates radical Islamism, and supports Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his attacks on the United States.

He also supported former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein for resisting the United States, and called him the “last Arabic knight”. (ANI)